dear Pinterest, with love – a marketer’s introduction

I look down at the clock on my computer. Wait, what? No way… I’ve spent two hours on Pinterest?? Not possible.

But it’s true. The first time I finally understood the buzz about with Pinterest, two hours passed like 10 minutes. I’d actually tried to love Pinterest a few times before that but just didn’t get it. What’s so addictive about it? How can people spend so much time on it…? The short answer is: it’s pretty.

For those who haven’t perused it yet, Pinterest is an online corkboard of sorts where you can pin images of things you like or want to save for later. Pinterest is an easy way for users to visualize and categorize content.

So why is it blowing up? I believe that Pinterest’s secret sauce is that it built a rabbit hole for users: From one pin, you can see all other pins in that category, from that board or from that pinner. My personal favorite is browsing all pins from gq.com or another website I’m a fan of. But more than that, it’s a beautiful website. The design of the website itself makes it easy and fun to pin. And it's one of the first social medium focused (almost) exclusively on visuals.

So, who uses it? Crafters, moms, foodies, wedding dreamers, fashionistas. Yes, guys use it, but not very often yet. And if you’re a Midwesterner, you’re even more likely to love it.

In my case, I’m into food (understatement of the year), travel and fashion. My boards are a collection of photos that represent that. I can go back and glance quickly at things that make me happy. That’s the draw of Pinterest… for the user.

But this is marketing blog! What the heck do I do with a bunch of online pinboards as a marketer?

Maybe nothing! (Are you relieved?) For now, Pinterest has pretty specific niches. If you’re not in one of those niche industries, don’t waste your time… yet.

Here’s your checklist; 3 ways to tell if you should consider Pinterest:

1. You have an eCommerce website. Be sure that your products all have pictures large enough to be pinned (anything smaller than 300 pixels seems to be too small for Pinterest to pick up – do some testing to be sure). If you don’t have pin-able pics of your products, someone who resells your products will. The biggest eCommerce opportunity on Pinterest is that each pin is one click away from the page it came from, meaning one click away from a sale on an eCommerce site. Make that as easy as possible and link to other products they may be pin-terested in.
2. You have a product in the fashion, food, travel, craft, wedding or “mommy” industry. If you have a product in any of these categories, it’s worth actually creating a Pinterest profile for your brand. Share not only your products, but ideas on how to use them best. Post an entire outfit suggestion, not just a shirt or pair of pants alone. Share recipes from your website with a drool-worthy photo of the final dish.
   Fun tip: Adding your product to this Gift Ideas Mecca is as easy as putting the price right in the description. Anything with a $price in the description will auto-magically show up under “Gifts.” See how Chobani Greek yogurt and RentTheRunway do it for good examples.
3. You are a curator of a lifestyle, for example a magazine, a TV/radio/blogger personality. Pinterest’s specialty is gathering people and pin-boards around a collection of like-mind people, things and places. Not sure what to pin to get started? Check out the industry that fits you – women’s apparel, home interior, cooking – and find pins and pinners you really like. The easiest way to start pinning is to re-pin the great stuff other people pin.

Ok, you can tell I love it. So between you and me, what could Pinterest do better? The mobile version of their site makes me want to throw things (Pinterest uses a lot of bandwidth for all those images) and even the web version can be funky in the wrong web browser. The smart phone apps don’t do much yet. You can’t upload a new pin easily via mobile, so new pinned content is still growing slowly.

And though we geeks may try (see: email marketing and infographics), I don’t think Pinterest is useful for B2B just yet. Just like with any new social medium, it isn’t a fit for everyone.

But if you’re into crafts, food, travel or any of Pinterest’s hot topics, do yourself a favor and give it a 30-minute test drive. Don’t give up after 5 minutes, there’s more to see. The more you know about it as a user, the more ready you’ll be to utilize it if/when it’s relevant to your job as a marketer.

Want to chat more Pinterest? Catch me on Twitter @bestofjess or comment here with your thoughts!